Curie + Empower
When The Brandery was started 10 years ago, the Founders had a vision of leveraging Cincinnati’s expertise — namely branding, marketing and design — to increase their startups’ probability of success. Empower was one of the first agencies to partner with The Brandery to make this vision a reality. Over the last decade, Empower has worked with more Brandery companies than any other agency. To prove The Brandery Founders’ original theory, some of the most successful alumni came out of the partnership with Empower: Dondé (acquired), Modulus (acquired), AdAdapted (Inc. 5000) and more. Empower even brought Martin, their 2017 match, in-house.
Curie came to The Brandery in a unique position; they had already gone through a top-ranked accelerator and didn’t need the usual branding work. The main draw to Cincinnati was the CPG connections for their Shopify app that allows digital teams to add AR capability to their sites. With Empower’s extensive portfolio of CPG clients, they were the clear match to help Curie position themselves to large brands.
Positioned for Takeoff (as told by Empower CEO Jim Price)
Each year Empower partners with a disruptive start-up to help us understand emerging trends. We work along-side start-ups through the Brandery here in Cincinnati — a nationally ranked accelerator that invests in high-growth start-ups.
The first start-up we worked with and invested in had the most successful exit in the history of the Brandery, RoadTrippers. In addition, we worked with a start-up, Martin, who is now embedded in our office and generating seven figures of revenue in collaboration with us for our clients via a world class programmatic media product. Every start-up we’ve worked with we focus on real business opportunities with specific goals.
This year our partner is Curie who resides in Seattle and enables shoppers to experience what’s in-store, in-home.
We have worked with Curie over the last couple of months to refine how they go to market and subsequently connect them with clients who we believe could benefit from their technology and working on a project to pilot their technology with a leading retailer.
Ready for Launch (as told by Curie CEO Michael Agustin)
One of the best experiences we’ve had with The Brandery has been our relationship with Empower. Empower strongly influenced Curie’s pivot to at-home shoppers, providing us valuable insight into the sales process and needs of retailers as they shifted priorities from brick-and-mortar to online. Empower also provided us with valuable feedback, acting as a customer proxy and helping us to refine our value proposition before meeting with prospective clients. Finally, their deep connections have helped us initiate conversations that would have been difficult on our own.
If you are interested in learning more or working with Empower, reach out to our Program Manager Jess Mabis (jess@brandery.org) to get connected.
About Empower
We are Empower, The Un-Holding Company. Our advantage is simple. Clients first — not shareholders. From the day we opened our doors in 1985, Empower has challenged the media status quo. Decades later, this hustle manifested into what we call Creative Media.
Recognized by The One Show, as Campaign US’s Agency of the Year, as an Ad Age Agency A-List Standout and as MediaPost’s Media Agency of the Year, our integrated team of experts in Creative, Media, Analytics, and Word-of-Mouth Marketing outperforms expectations.
Some of our biggest fans include Tempur Sealy, Fifth Third Bank, Gorilla Glue, TriHealth, Brooks Running, Jack Link’s, V-Tech, Bush Brothers, Wendy’s, GNC, Famous Footwear, Ashley HomeStore, Rust-Oleum, The Body Shop and PetSmart.
Empower is headquartered in the historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of downtown Cincinnati. Our Chicago office is located in the city’s bustling River North neighborhood, just steps from the Merchandise Mart. While much has evolved in our 35-year history, we remain independent with plenty of Midwest hustle…
About Curie
Curie enables shoppers to experience products in 3d in the context of their home. Our platform enables digital teams to add AR capability to Shopify via link or embed, increasing sales volume and reducing returns. Curie is a Seattle-based Delaware C-Corp.
